Stew at front of office, controversial issue (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
hot potato
'controversial issue' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stew at front of office' is the wordplay.
'stew' becomes 'hotpot' (I've seen this before**).
'front of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'office' is 'o'.
'hotpot'+'at'+'o'='HOT POTATO'
(Other definitions for hot potato that I've seen before include "controversial question" , "thorny problem" , "Troublesome situation concerning thermal spud" , "Troublesome thing (in a jacket?)" , "Problem that's painful to grasp" .)