Historian David Hamer remarked that Dillon was the prime example of a "Seddonian" Liberal politician, due to humble, rustic background and appeal as a "man of the people".

[2] There, he worked for years as a farm labourer, bullock driver and carrier before acquiring land; he was a rarity amongst Liberals as a runholder with about 3,500 acres (14 km2).

A poor speaker and sneered at by William Russell as illiterate, he appealed as a "man of the people" who had made his way by his own efforts.

He retained the image of the rugged pioneer; short, barrel-chested, bushy-bearded and usually clad in thick country tweeds.

[1] Dillon won the Hawkes Bay electorate in 1905, beating the oligarchical Leader of the Opposition William Russell, but was defeated six years later in 1911.