The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 6 letter word GOVERNING BODIES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
G
O
V
E
R
N
I
N
G
B
O
D
I
E
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ruling people" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ruling people = governing bodies.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.