Charles Kennedy was not broken by his election defeat after 32 years as an MP, but was planning a different future with his new partner, who has now revealed details of his final days.

The news of Charles Kennedy’s death aged 55 in June, stunned the political world. His body was found at his croft on Lochyside near Fort William, by Carole Macdonald, the widow of Kennedy’s best friend Murdo Macdonald.

The three had been friends at Glasgow University in the1970s where Mrs Macdonald , 57, had studied English. She went on to marry Murdo and have four children.

They remained friendly, and Murdo was godfather to the son Donald , Kennedy had with his former wife Sarah Gurling.

At the time of the former MP's death, his friend Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spin doctor tweeted "can confirm Charles was found by good friend Carole Macdonald, widow of Charles' lifelong best friend Murdo.”

It was the first public indication that they had been in a relationship. In an interview with a Sunday newspaper Mrs Macdonald, who lives in Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire, said:

“I didn’t want to be in any way public about things and Charlie was very protective of me.

“He was also very protective of my kids. He didn’t want a story where there didn’t need to be a story.”

She rejected the idea that Kennedy had died lonely and defeated. Her children had kept newspapers from her but two broadcast interviews upset her:

“They made out that Charlie was this tortured individual and that angered me. I didn’t think they knew him particularly well. Yes, there were issues but he wasn’t tormented. There weren’t two sides to him. He was very considerate, gentle and non-confrontational. What you saw in public was the way he as in private.”

There was public speculation that he might stand for Holyrood, and a career in business or media had been mooted. But she said they hadn’t really discussed what he would he planned to next. Although he didn’t want to go to the House of Lords, she said that his priority had been to keep a base in London, to remain close to his son, now 10.

“He didn’t want to be a father who only saw his son at weekends,” Mrs Macdonald said.

When asked whether they had planned to marry, she didn’t demur but said the future would have been different. Kennedy had decided to move on from politics, which could have given them privacy to allow their relationship to develop.

She and her late husband had long known Kennedy’s increasing problem with alcohol, and she pointed to Westminster's contribution: "You are in an environment, often late at night, where drink is available, cheap, sociable and you don't have to drive."

But she hadn’t been aware just how ill he had been.

“There was absolutely nothing wrong with him until that last weekend.” Mrs Macdonald said she had family commitments in Renfrewshire.

“I’d dropped him at the airport he previous Sunday. I spoke to him on he Sunday night before he died. I knew he wasn’t well I knew he needed help and he needed to get things stabilised but I had no idea it could have that devastating effect.”

She had driven north fully expecting to take him to hospital, but it was too late. “If I had thought for a minute that might happen, I would have been up there with him. He was unwell and it was drink-related, but it was just in that last week that things had gone awry.“