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9 Once more tossing away a good poll victory: ???N
I think it is GAIN; also
6 After recess, Tory right-wingers were at the helm (given a makeover): ???T?L?D
I think it is RESTYLED
If these are correct the final clue leaves me with problems:
1 Contentious posh girl gobbled pathetic Bale: ?E?A?E?B?E
It looks like DEBATEABLE which is, of course, an incorrect spelling. Also I am not sure about the posh girl, Deb doesn’t seem to cut it, still less Deble
The E and the A come from 9 & 6 as detailed above, I am pretty sure the other letters are correct, can add all details if needed. Can you help me out please? I must be wrong, can’t be Cyclops (the setter), surely?

Both spellings of debateable are correct, and deb is short for debutante.

1 Debateable, with that spelling is in Chambers, so seems fine. A Deb was a Debutante, posh girl - it's used quite often in crosswords.

9 Gain, good poll victory, from Again, once more. Tossing away a = drop the first A.

9 definitely GAIN. I think it can be spelled DEBATEABLE (so SWMBO claims) so I'm going with it. Sorry can't help with 6

Thank you all, I appreciate Deb is short for debutante but there are letters to spare: EABL, the “pathetic” Bale, is in fact “gobbled up” by DEBAT-E, which is the cause of my uncertainty. Sorry, I am a bit of a stickler, should get out more, thanks

6 is RESTYLED

Recess = REST
Tory right-wingers = Y (I'd have thought winger singular would be better)
Were at the helm = LED

JohnT, I agree that 'debateable' is the uglier version of the word, but it's a valid version. I don't think there are letters to spare

Deb -posh girl
Ate - gobbled
able, anagram (pathetic) Bale.

All clear, thanks, I missed ATE being synonym for gobbled therefore misread the wordplay, happens To me a lot

Thanks, JohnT.