Lib Dem leader Ed Davey fell off a paddleboard, screamed on a rollercoaster, and zipped down a waterslide in a bizarre election campaign full of dramatic, headline-grabbing stunts.
It ended up working for him too – he generated constant headlines due to his antics and his party ended up winning more than 70 seats.
Now Scottish leader Alex Cole-Hamilton wants to surf that wave by taking to his board at Aberdeen beach when the next Holyrood election comes around in 2026.
“I’m better on a paddleboard than Ed Davey is”, he jokes. “I love being in wetsuits. I love scuba diving. I love surfing.”
“I was at Aberdeen University. I used to go and watch the surfers from the beach, and I miss that.
“I’ve learned to surf since then. It’s always been a dream of mine to go back to the beautiful sandy beaches of Aberdeen.”
There was plenty for Mr Cole-Hamilton to celebrate in Scotland too.
In the Highlands, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone not only won but massively increased his majority.
The 2021 Holyrood election was disappointing for the Lib Dems as the party fell to a record low of just four MSPs.
And despite successes on July 4, the party actually saw a small share in its Westminster vote in Scotland compared to the last election.
But Mr Cole-Hamilton reckons it will be a very different story in 2026.
Crucially, if Labour repeats Thursday’s Westminster successes to become the biggest party in Holyrood again, the Lib Dems could be kingmakers in Holyrood.
Could Mr Cole-Hamilton’s party end up in a coalition – and if so, is there a dream role he would like in any cabinet?
“First minister,” is his ambitious answer.
He says: “We make the reality we find ourselves in.
“We’re starting from a very low base. But there’s always been polling that shows if people thought we could win, we’d do far better.
“It would be a privilege to be considered in the context of having power.
He adds: “I don’t leap out of bed every morning thinking I want to be a minister.”
The Lib Dems have come a long way since the party was trounced at the 2015 Westminster election, in Scotland across the UK.
Party heavyweights such as former leader Charles Kennedy and coalition cabinet minister Danny Alexander were swept aside by the SNP in the Highlands.
At times the party’s very future existence was even questioned.
But Mr Cole-Hamilton appears to have always been confident a brighter future lay ahead.
“I never thought the party would die,” he tells us.
Conversation