 Swinburne's chief recreation was music and in June 1885 he was one of the choristers at the Handel festival held in the Crystal Palace.Politically, Swinburne was an ardent Gladstonian Liberal, in 1886 he became election agent for the Liberal candidate for St Pancras South, Sir Julian Goldsmid, 3rd Baronet, who was elected after a strenuous campaign.Swinburne found electioneering a great strain, ""a game not worth playing—ended in weariness, sleepless nights and restless days"".