What's in vase returned for statesman (5)
I believe the answer is:
nehru
'statesman' is the definition.
(Nehru is an example)
'what's in vase returned' is the wordplay.
'what' becomes 'eh' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'vase' becomes 'urn' (urn is a kind of vase).
'returned' says the letters should be written backwards.
'urn' in reverse letter order is 'nru'.
'eh' placed inside 'nru' is 'NEHRU'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for nehru that I've seen before include "Indian PM 1947-64" , "India's first prime minister" , "Popular Indian" , "India's first PM, d.1964" , "First prime minister of India" .)