He was the son of Charles Loftus, 1st Marquess of Ely and Jane Myhill.

Loftus sat in the Irish House of Commons for County Wexford from 1790 until the Act of Union in 1801.

He then represented County Wexford in the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1806, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Ely and 2nd Baron Loftus.

On 3 November 1807, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.

Loftus married Anna Maria Dashwood, the daughter of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood, 3rd Baronet, on 22 May 1810 at St George's Hanover Square.