Nice one , did for me!

Great stuff but take it a bit easier on us- anagrams and so many red herrings are ok for the seriously clever but the likes of me could easily burst a brain cell that we can't spare.

Point taken - trying to achieve a balance between challenging and achievable whilst avoiding the obscure.

The pike group was fending, but otherwise a great grid.

*The pike group was fiendish(as is auto correct), but otherwise a great grid.

Got lucky thinking the anagrams were hairstyles!! I guess this is the plaice to carp. Rudd was nice ( evil but nice).
This wasn't _the_ nastiest and a bit of variation is no bad thing- but herrings always trump artificial difficulty. For instance you could have paired Pike with Wilson, Sponge and Frazer for extra politician...

Wiz for Prime Minister