John Swinney said his team went back to the ‘70s with their campaigning in the Scottish election.
Due to the pandemic, political parties were unable to engage with voters in quite the same way.
And in Perthshire North, incumbent Mr Swinney’s campaign team went retro with their methods.
Speaking to the Perthshire Advertiser after being re-elected, he said: “We went back to the ‘70s with tannoys on cars.”
And the move caused some confusion on Perthshire doorsteps.
Mr Swinney laughed: “My voice was being played on a recorded basis.
“It confused neighbours when they could hear my voice on the tannoy but I was speaking to them on their doorstep.”
The deputy first minister said the campaign was originally planned on the basis it would be unlikely they would be able to speak to people face to face.
He said: “We ended up getting three and a half weeks.”
Voter turnout in Perthshire North was up despite the pandemic.
And Mr Swinney thinks the shift towards postal voting was the reason.
He told the Perthshire Advertiser : “There was a big upsurge in postal registration.
“If you applied for a postal vote you are much more likely to cast it.
“That’s helped to contribute to increase participation.”
Mr Swinney now takes over from the retired Roseanna Cunningham as being the Scottish Parliament’s longest serving member.
The deputy first minister said Friday’s result came after an “intense” year.
He has come under fire over the past year for the handling of SQA exams as education secretary and has been heavily involved in the Scottish Government’s response to the pandemic as deputy first minister.
He said: “I came under intense pressure in my political role as deputy first minister and education secretary.
“It’s been an intense past 12 months with COVID.”
In his acceptance speech at Friday’s declaration, John Swinney said being re-elected to represent Perthshire North was the “privilege of my life”.
He said: “I am absolutely honoured to be re-elected.”
Mr Swinney then made a further commitment to the SNP’s push for independence and pledged to “do all that I can in the next parliamentary term to ensure that people have a choice over their future as they should have”.
