Crossword Genius

Stand in, lacking official capacity, upsets many leaders (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

locum

'stand in' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'lacking official capacity upsets many leaders' is the wordplay.
'leaders' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'lacking official capacity upsets many' is 'LOCUM'.

(Other definitions for locum that I've seen before include "Doctor's deputy" , "Person filling in" , "Stand-in doctor, clergyman etc" , "Professional who stands in for another" , "One stands in" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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