Ida Swinburne

In 1928 Ida Swinburne was a Liberal London County Council candidate for Camberwell North West.^[6] She was unsuccessful. She was selected as prospective Liberal parliamentary candidate for the safe Conservative seat of East Surrey in March 1929, a constituency that the Liberals had not contested at the previous election. The General Election was almost immediately called and she had only two months to put her case across. Although she had previously lived in the constituency for 20 years, she had little opportunity to build a local profile. She highlighted her interest in industrial questions, free trade and education.^[7] She achieved a respectable second place vote, pushing the Labour candidate into third place. She was re-adopted as prospective Liberal candidate for East Surrey in 1930. She remained Liberal candidate until withdrawing in October 1931 due to the formation of the National Government. She did not stand for parliament again.^[8] She continued to be active in the Liberal Party and was a member of the national executive of the Women's Liberal Federation.^[9] She was also a member of the Eighty Club.^[10]

With her husband Ronald, Ida Steuart created Steuart Films. They produced a number of documentary films in the 1930s. She served in World War II as a 1st Officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service.^{[citation needed]}