Possible Clues:

• One can hold things together in examination cut short
• Item in office -- Guardian perhaps -- on Conservative effrontery
• Device preventing leaves from spreading around
• Daily trim that keeps things tidy
• Article in office journal cut
• Misplaced replica held between pages – by this?
• Bent-wire fastener
• Mash rice mixed with core of apples as staple alternative?
• Stationery article found in FT magazine?
• Conservative on edge after, say, Mail article found in office