Wooden Tory leader never to return (5)
I believe the answer is:
treen
'wooden' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'tory leader never to return' is the wordplay.
'tory leader' becomes 't' (I've seen this in other clues).
'never' becomes 'neer' ('ne'er' can be a synonym of 'never').
'to return' says the letters should be written backwards.
'neer' back-to-front is 'reen'.
't'+'reen'='TREEN'
(Other definitions for treen that I've seen before include "of wood" , "wooden items" , "Wooden antiques" , "wooden objects" , "box, say" .)