The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PROVINCE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
R
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V
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N
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More clues leading to the result PROVINCE
- Region for French wine: borders of Champagne
- Ruler’s repressing over half of region
- Machiavellian character pens ordinary verse for pigeon
- Part of country giving Cable support?
- Cable-supporting sphere?
- Old victory secured by sovereign territory
- Old hand Cable, maybe, for department?
- Royal holding nothing against region
- Department for the Business Secretary?
- Cable to follow for part of the country
Buddy explains!

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.
What does PROVINCE mean?
PROVINCE noun- A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.
- An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China.
- (Roman history) An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor.
- An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.
- An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
- (in plural, chiefly with definite article) The parts of a country outside its capital city.
- An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept.