Tory tax can't put off conservative nominee (10)
I believe the answer is:
contestant
'nominee' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'tory tax can't put off conservative' is the wordplay.
'tory' becomes 'con' (abbreviation for Conservative).
'tax' becomes 'test' (taxing can mean testing or demanding).
'put off' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'cant' with 'c' removed is 'ant'.
'con'+'test'+'ant'='CONTESTANT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for contestant that I've seen before include "Entrant" , "One entering a competition" , "Competitor" , "One in quiz" , "One of those competing" .)