From 1853 to 1860, the electorate was known as the
Town of Dunedin. From 1860 to 1905, it was the
City of Dunedin.
James Macandrew was the first elected member. He resigned on 2 November 1858 and was re-elected in a 14 January
1859 by-election. In 1863, the electorate was abolished and replaced with
Dunedin and Suburbs North and
Dunedin and Suburbs South. It was recreated for the
1866 general election.
James Gordon Stuart Grant was a local eccentric and a frequent candidate from 1867 to 1884. The
1875 election was contested by eight candidates. The three candidates on the anti-centralist ticket,
James Macandrew,
William Larnach and
Robert Stout, were all successful. They beat
William Reynolds, James Macassey
Henry Fish,
James Grant and John Armstrong. Larnach resigned on 31 May 1878. The
1893 election was contested by eight candidates, who contested three available positions.
William Hutchison and
David Pinkerton were incumbents who were successful,
William Earnshaw was the third successful candidate (he had represented the
Peninsula electorate in the previous Parliament), the previous representative Henry Fish came fourth,
Hugh Gourley was fifth, with other unsuccessful candidates being
James Gore,
Charles Haynes, and David Nicol. Dunedin was recreated for the
2020 general election as a single-member electorate, as
Dunedin no longer has a population large enough to support two electorates. The electorate, however, does not include
South Dunedin, as that is now part of a recreated electorate. ==Members of Parliament==