Crossword Genius

Starmer draping frilly material on an undeserving official (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

placeman

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'official' is the definition.
(placeman is a kind of official)

'starmer draping frilly material on an undeserving' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'material' could be 'lace' (lace is a kind of material) and 'lace' is found in the answer.
'starmer' could be 'pm' (UK prime minister Keir Starmer) and 'pm' is found in the leftover letters.
'an' could be 'a' and 'a' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'n' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for placeman that I've seen is " Insincere office-holder".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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