During the recent Victorian election the tri-colour border collie was on billboards from one end of the country electorate of Ripon to the other.

Daisy’s owner is Louise Staley who is one of the state’s new members of parliament after winning the seat for the Liberal Party. And while Ms Staley insists her success was built on hard work, a strong campaign and sound policies, she concedes Daisy may have played a part too.

“I think it’s fair to say that she had a noticeable effect on my vote,” Ms Staley says.

“I wouldn’t want her to get too ahead of herself with that.

“She is a minor celebrity thanks to those billboards. She does get recognised in the street. If nothing else she was a delight to come home to when I campaigned.”

Daisy, now three, was bred by Amphitheatre border collie breeder Merilyn Wallis.

She has impressive working dog bloodlines and is of some value among the livestock, even if she is primarily a family pet.

“We have nearly 1000 sheep and she participates in helping with those,” Ms Staley says.

“Daisy’s very enthusiastic but she hasn’t had quite the training. She has the breeding and temperament but would benefit from additional work in that regard.

“I’d say is she very good in the yard but not quite as good in an open paddock.

She tends to push them a bit too hard.”

Daisy does spend a bit of time indoors and she is a prima donna in other ways too. For a start, she takes a dim view of anyone who suggests she shouldn’t ride “shotgun” in the farm ute.

“She does spend most of the day with (Louise’s partner) Stephen because he is on the farm, and she likes to sit in the front seat of the ute,” Ms Staley says.

“She is so insistent that is her place. It is a battle of wills if I want to travel in the front seat. She makes it clear it would be her preference if I sat in the back seats.

“She also has that ‘endearing’ habit of returning sticks and other objects, over and over again. She will go and find sticks for the purpose, usually whole branches which are way to large and heavy.

“And her nickname is Hoover. I swear she was a Labrador in a past life. She loves her food.”