Winner has tea with politician (5)
I believe the answer is:
champ
'winner' is the definition.
(I know that champ is a type of winner)
'tea with politician' is the wordplay.
'tea' becomes 'cha' (cha is a type of tea).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'cha'+'mp'='CHAMP'
'has' is the link.
(Other definitions for champ that I've seen before include "Mashed potato with scallions" , "Fret impatiently; winner" , "Victor (slang)" , "Title holder (abbr)" , "Masticate, gnaw" .)