Various women around old flame in charge of state (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
new mexico
'state' is the definition.
(New Mexico is an example)
'various women around old flame in charge' is the wordplay.
'various' indicates anagramming the letters.
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'old flame' becomes 'ex' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in charge' becomes 'ic'.
'women' with letters rearranged gives 'newmo'.
'ex'+'ic'='exic'
'newmo' going around 'exic' is 'NEW MEXICO'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for new mexico that I've seen before include "American state, capital Santa Fe" , "Forty seventh state of the USA" , "SW US state" , "one of the 13 [UNITED STATES OF AMERICA] ? Not originally" , "US state, capital Santa Fe" .)