Sir Menzies Campbell yesterday blamed a "cruel and unfair" media, obsessed by age and trivia, for fuelling the momentum towards his resignation as Liberal Democrat leader last year.
He also admitted that his party was not yet "fit for 24-hours-a-day news" despite his attempts to professionalise it.
And he revealed his intention to stand again at the next General Election and did not rule out one day returning to the front bench under his successor Nick Clegg.
Sir Menzies explained that his decision to resign in October was made in the interests of the party "because when Gordon Brown decided to cancel the election, putting an end to all that speculation he allowed to build up, it was clear that questions about leadership were going to continue to get in the way of the progress of the party".
Asked about whether or not he got enough support from colleagues, the Scottish politician said there were "always mutterings" about the leadership, which his predecessors had also had to endure.
He spoke of a "preconception" about his age - 66 - but denied MPs had come to him personally to raise concerns.
Admitting to frustration and irritation, he told the BBC: "From time to time, just when it seemed to me that we were beginning to make progress some other unattributed quotation would appear."
Following Mr Brown's decision not to hold an election, Sir Menzies pointed to 10 to 14 days of articles about his age. He explained how he had consulted senior colleagues who made it clear he could get over the problem but it might prove impossible to do so.
"It was my responsibility to make sure I gave the party the best possible chance at the next election, the best way for that was for me to go in my own time and on my terms," he said.
Asked if he thought the media coverage of him was cruel and unfair, Sir Menzies replied: "Yeah. It was sort of cliche-ridden." Referring to some cartoons, he went on: "If I had a fiver for every time someone gave me a zimmer, I would be a very rich man."
He recalled how on one occasion a woman journalist, "herself not unknown to the headlines, came all the way to Cheltenham during the leadership election to ask me how I kept my socks up".
He went on: "This dealing in trivia related to some kind of perception about my age. I am what I am."
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