The losing candidate in this summer’s Tory leadership contest has broken a two-month silence with a two=page interview in his local weekly newspaper.

Jeremy Hunt, who lost out to Boris Johnson by a margin of 65-35 in the July contest, has kept his own counsel as his victorious rival has lurched from one controversy to another since entering Number 10.

But Mr Hunt has now finally decided to go public on his battle to become prime minister, and his run-ins with Mr Johnson, choosing his local paper the Farnham Herald to air his views.

In the exclusive interview, with the Tindle-owned title, Mr Hunt revealed there were times when he really did feel his camp would spring an upset and he would be handed the keys to Number 10.

He said: “Yes, there were moments – but looking back on it, that was probably unrealistic. But we sensed tremendous movement coming in our direction during the campaign, at the hustings and on social media, and got a tremendous reception from the public wherever we went. But we didn’t know that it was from a very low base and that Boris started off with an enormous lead.

“And so in practice, although there was, I think, definitely movement towards me, it was never going to be enough to change the result.”

Mr Hunt, who famously called Boris a ‘coward’ during the campaign, says: “I said it was cowardly not to take part in a TV debate before people had voted and I didn’t think he should have done that. And it was a leadership contest and because I wasn’t getting anywhere privately, I thought I’d say it out loud… that’s part of what happens in the context of something like that.”

However Mr Hunt, who turned down a job in the cabinet when he wasn’t offered the opportunity to remain as foreign secretary, insists he and the prime minister get on well. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a cross word, not that I can remember,” he said. “On a personal level, I think we’ve always got on pretty well.”

Earlier this summer, the Herald became the first paper to reveal Mr Hunt would be standing in the leadership campaign with a  video interview in which he announced the move going

The latest interview was published in print before it was revealed first on the Herald’s websites and was heavily plugged on its front page.

Colin Channon, the editorial manager of Tindle’s newspapers in Surrey and Hampshire, said: “It was very refreshing when Mr Hunt agreed to sit down with us to conduct his first post-campaign interview.  Too often these days we read about politicians ignoring their local media – too many local papers are not invited to briefings or ignored when high-profile politicians are on our patches.

“Mr Hunt has always played very fair with us – it was the Herald which broke the news that he was intending to stand in the leadership campaign, when our reporter at an event in Haslemere caught up with him. The video our reporter Bea Philpots took that day went viral.

“The Herald sale remains very buoyant – especially since we switched to a tabloid format earlier this year, which has been hugely popular with readers – and Mr Hunt appreciates it’s the perfect way to stay in touch with the residents of his constituency.”