The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word YESTERDA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
Y
E
S
T
E
R
D
A
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "in the recent past" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in the recent past = yesterda.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.