Which dear French stateswoman? (8)
I believe the answer is:
thatcher
'stateswoman?' is the definition.
(Margaret Thatcher)
'which dear french' is the wordplay.
'which' becomes 'that'.
'dear french' becomes 'cher' (French term of affection).
'that'+'cher'='THATCHER'
(Other definitions for thatcher that I've seen before include "politician admired by 12 [ARTHUR DALEY]" , "Baroness --, former PM" , "Iron 17 across" , "Roofer and Prime Minister" , "British prime minister throughout the 1980s" .)