First Minister Humza Yousaf was pictured on the campaign trail in Perth last Sunday as the SNP was left reeling from the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister was joined by a number of elected politicians and activists on a door knocking session in Tulloch where they met with local constituents.
They then attended a meeting with local SNP members at the Tulloch Institute.
The First Minister was joined on stage by Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart, Ochil and South Perthshire MP John Nicolson, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Jim Fairlie and Perth City SNP councillors.
Over 100 tickets were issued for the Constituency Association event in which the First Minister discussed Scottish independence and took questions from the audience.
Commenting, Mr Fairlie said: “It was great to welcome the First Minister of Scotland to Perth on Sunday, where we had a fantastic and energising day meeting constituents in Tulloch, before a constituency event with local party members in which Humza Yousaf rallies the troops.
“He led our campaigning session and was warmly received around the doors, answering a whole manner of questions from constituents who were pleasantly surprised to see him in their streets.
“Throughout the day Humza Yousaf emphasised and explained the importance of independence and why it is absolutely essential for Scotland to realise its full potential.”
The campaigning came the same day that former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested by police and released without charge as part of an investigation into SNP finances.
Yousaf has been challenged by his own MSPs to spell out why she has not been suspended from the SNP.
Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive who is married to Sturgeon, and Colin Beattie, the former treasurer, were also released without charge pending further investigation.
Several party figures have said that there are no grounds to suspend Sturgeon’s SNP membership because she has not been charged with an offence, in a marked contrast to how Sturgeon dealt with similar cases.
Sturgeon has insisted she is “innocent of any wrongdoing”, with Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, backing Yousaf’s decision not to suspend Sturgeon and said he was not aware of any complaints being made to the party’s conduct committee.
