Background
Loftus was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Loftus was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
He was educated at Saint Augustine"s School in Ramsgate and at The Oratory School in Birmingham.
In the First World War he served with the Suffolk Regiment in France, reaching the rank of captain. He was elected to East Suffolk County Council in 1922, and the following year became vice-chairman of the Lowestoft Conservative Association. In 1931 he became an alderman of the council.
When Gervais Rentoul, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lowestoft, resigned his seat in 1934 to become a Metropolitan Police magistrate, Loftus was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election.
The Conservative Party was part of the National Government, and Loftus stood as a "National Conservative", id est (that is) a supporter of the government, with the backing of the other parties in the government. He was opposed by the Labour Party and by an independent Liberal candidate.
The campaign was dominated by the issues facing Lowestoft"s fishermen, who had suffered from the loss of Russia as a market for herring. Loftus had a majority of 5.9% over the Labour Party candidate, former Leyton West Member of Parliament Reginald Sorensen, whom he beat by 1,920 votes.
This was significantly below Rentoul"s majority in the 1931 general election, but Loftus was re-elected in the 1935 election with over 60% of the votes, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1945 general election by the Labour candidate, Edward Evans.
Loftus was a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk for over 25 years, and High Steward of Southwold from 1945 until his death. After leaving Parliament, he became chairman of the Rural Reconstruction Association. Loftus was married twice, firstly in 1910 to Dorothy Reynolds, with whom he had two sons.
He died at his home in Southwold on 20 January 1956, aged 78.
36th United Kingdom Parliament. 37th United Kingdom Parliament]
A notable figure in the public life of Lowestoft and East Suffolk for several decades, he sat in the House of Commons from 1934 to 1945 as the Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the Lowestoft division of Suffolk. While he was a Member of Parliament, he concentrated on agriculture and fishing.