1. a politician who tests the strength of a party's support for its leader by competing for the job of leading the party although they do not really intend to be elected.

He was a stalking horse, intended to undermine what was regarded at the time as a weak leadership.

2. something that is used to hide someone's real purpose.

It's feared that the talks are just a stalking horse for a much wider deal between the two parties.

• keep a weather eye on
• keep a weather eye on someone
• be sacrificed on the altar of
• be sacrificed on the altar of something
• be said for
• be said for doing something
• be said for something
• be scared out of mind
• be scared out of your mind
• be scared shitless
• be scared to death
• be scattered to the four winds
• be second to none
• be set in concrete
• be set in stone
• be several cards short of a full deck
• be shaking in boots
• be shaking in shoes
• be shaking in your boots
• be shaking in your shoes
• be shit scared
• be shitting bricks
• be short of a bob or two
• be shot of
• be shot of someone