[2] A graduate of the London School of Economics, she married Hugh Dalton, later a Labour Party Member of Parliament, in 1914; they had one child, a daughter.
[3] Her husband was MP for Peckham in South London, later a solidly Labour seat, but then highly marginal; his majority in 1924 was only 947 votes.
The seventy-strong general committee unanimously chose Ruth Dalton, because she could be relied on to make way for her husband as soon as Parliament was dissolved; no other candidate was even considered.
[5] Ruth Dalton duly won the by-election on 7 February with a large majority, receiving 57% of the votes cast,[4] and served until Parliament was dissolved on 10 May for the 1929 general election.
[4] She felt that more work was accomplished on London County Council, where she held her seat as an elected member until 1931, then returning from 1935 to 1942 as an alderman, including a period as Chairman of the Parks Committee.