The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 letter word THE HAGUE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
T
H
E
H
A
G
U
E
More clues leading to the result THE HAGUE
- Article by wartime general reported site of legislature
- ‘Seat of Government’: article by ex-party leader
- Not just any Tory leader in court
- Top Tory supports Article delivering seat of power to Europeans
- Male witch seen during day in European city
- Seat of government there, not concerning former Tory leader
- Article on former Tory leader’s centre of government
- Mark often used to escort governor’s husband to Dutch parliament
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "centre of government" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case centre of government = the hague.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.