 He was private secretary to the President of the Local Government Board (Charles Ritchie) from 1888-92 and to Lord George Hamilton (the Secretary of State for India) from 1896–1901.He served briefly under Arthur Balfour as a Lord of the Treasury in 1905.A keen gardener, Loder purchased the Wakehurst Place estate in 1903 and spent 33 years developing the gardens, which today cover some two square kilometres (500 acres) and are owned by the National Trust.