Weird Times leader was speculated about (8)
I believe the answer is:
rumoured
'was speculated about' is the definition.
'weird times leader' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'weird' could be 'rum' (I've seen this before) and 'rum' is present in the answer.
'leader' could be 'red' (red is a kind of leader) and 'red' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ou' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
(Other definitions for rumoured that I've seen before include "said to be lacking authority" , "it's said (in a gossipy way)" , "Reported" , "(Of gossip) in circulation" , "Circulating, but unverified" .)