Parliamentary terms

Tau Henare
Tuariki Delamere
Tuku Morgan
Rana Waitai
Tu Wyllie

History

The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1996

New Zealand general election, 1996

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...

 from the centrist/nationalist New Zealand First

New Zealand First

New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992...

 party.

New Zealand First had been founded in 1993 by Winston Peters

Winston Peters

Winston Raymond Peters is a New Zealand politician and leader of New Zealand First, a political party he founded in 1993. Peters has had a turbulent political career since entering Parliament in 1978. He served as Minister of Maori Affairs in the Bolger National Party Government before being...

, a former National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 Minister of Māori Affairs

Minister of Maori Affairs

The Minister of Māori Affairs is the minister of the New Zealand government with broad responsibility for government policy towards Māori, the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The current Minister of Māori Affairs is Dr. Pita Sharples.-Role:...

. He was half-Maori, and his party quickly won support from Māori who felt that the Labour Party was taking their support for granted. In that year's election

New Zealand general election, 1993

The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing back towards the Labour Party. The new Alliance and New...

, Tau Henare

Tau Henare

Tau Henare is a New Zealand Māori parliamentarian. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 1999 and returned to Parliament in 2005. He has been involved with four political parties: Mana Motuhake, New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the National Party - representing three in...

, great-grandson of legendary Māori politician Taurekareka Henare

Taurekareka Henare

Taurekareka Henare was a Māori politician of the Reform Party.-Background and early life:Henare was born at Pipiwai in the Bay of Islands, in 1878 or 1877. His father, Henare Wynyard, was said to be the son of Robert Wynyard, acting governor of New Zealand...

, unseated the Labour MP in the Northern Māori seat, one of five seats reserved for Māori

Maori seats

In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially also called Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that gives reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament...

, and became New Zealand First's second MP. This broke a long Labour hold on the Māori seats. Soon after that election, Peters named Henare as deputy leader of New Zealand First.

The party was the biggest beneficiary of New Zealand's switch to mixed member proportional representation. In the 1996 elections, New Zealand First won 17 seats. In addition, it swept all five Māori seats. Henare was reelected in Te Tai Tokerau (the former Northern Maori). He was joined by Rana Waitai

Rana Waitai

Rana Donald Waitai is a former politician. He was an MP from 1996 to 1999.-Early years:His father was Te Rangi Koroingo Te Oreore Waitai born and died in Lower Hutt...

 in Te Puku O Te Whenua, Tuku Morgan

Tuku Morgan

Tukoroirangi Morgan is a New Zealand Māori politician. He was chair of Te Arataura, the Waikato-Tainui committee or tribal parliament, but his status and membership within that body remain undecided...

 in Te Tai Hauauru, Tuariki Delamere

Tuariki Delamere

Tuariki John Delamere is a former New Zealand politician. He served as an MP from 1996 to 1999, and was a member of Cabinet for the duration of his term.-Before politics:...

 in Te Tai Rawhiti, and Tu Wyllie

Tu Wyllie

Tutekawa Wyllie , generally called Tu Wyllie, is a former New Zealand politician and rugby union player, who represented his country.-Early years:...

 in Te Tai Tonga. The four new MPs each pushed Labour into second place. When New Zealand First entered a coalition with National with Peters as deputy prime minister

Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand is second most senior officer in the Government of New Zealand, although this seniority does not necessarily translate into power....

, Henare and Delamere joined Peters in Cabinet

New Zealand Cabinet

The Cabinet of New Zealand functions as the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch within the New Zealand government system...

. Henare served as minister of Māori affairs and Delamere as minister of immigration and Pacific affairs.

The five Māori MPs soon became known as the "Tight Five," after the five rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 forwards who do most of the pushing in a scrum

Scrum (rugby)

Scrum , in the sports of rugby union and rugby league, is a way of restarting the game, either after an accidental infringement or when the ball has gone out of play...

. Largely because of their huge electoral upset, they gained a very high profile in both New Zealand First and nationwide. However, they along with many other New Zealand First MPs attracted some controversy for their behavior. Morgan, in particular, caught heat for reportedly misapropriating funds from a television network where he worked before entering Parliament.

When National's Jim Bolger

Jim Bolger

James Brendan "Jim" Bolger, ONZ was the 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was elected on the promise of delivering a "Decent Society" following the previous Labour government's economic reforms, known as Rogernomics...

 was ousted as prime minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 in a party room coup by Jenny Shipley

Jenny Shipley

Dame Jenny Shipley, DNZM , served as the 36th Prime Minister of New Zealand from December 1997 to December 1999, the first woman to hold this office and the first, and to date only, woman to serve as parliamentary leader of the National Party of New Zealand.-Early life:Shipley was born as Jennifer...

, tensions rapidly developed between the coalition partners and within New Zealand First itself. Eventually, Henare tried to stage a party room coup of his own against Peters, but failed. Soon after that, Shipley sacked Peters from Cabinet. Peters immediately pulled New Zealand First out of the coalition, but eight New Zealand First MPs left the party instead and continued to support National as independents. Among these MPs were all of the Tight Five except Wyllie.

Henare, Waitai and Morgan eventually founded a new party, Mauri Pacific

Mauri Pacific

Mauri Pacific was a short-lived political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1998 by five former members of the New Zealand First party. It has often been described as a Māori party. Officially, Mauri Pacific was a multiculturalist party, welcoming anyone who supported racial and cultural...

, led by Henare. Delamere remained an independent until the 1999 elections

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

, when he joined the Te Tawharau

Te Tawharau

Te Tawharau was a Māori political party in New Zealand.Te Tawharau briefly had representation in Parliament when Tuariki Delamere, a former New Zealand First MP, transferred his loyalty to it. In the 1999 elections, Te Tawharau contested electorates under its own banner, but contested the party...

, a small Māori party allied with the Mana Māori Movement

Mana Maori Movement

The Mana Māori Movement was a New Zealand political party. It advocated on behalf of the Māori people. It was founded by Eva Rickard, a prominent Māori activist. Rickard was originally a member of Mana Motuhake, another Māori party, but quit when Mana Motuhake joined the Alliance...

.

In the 1999 elections, all of the Tight Five were defeated, with only Delamere managing to even finish second. Henare is the only one who has remained in politics, but did not return to Parliament until 2005, as a National list MP. Waitai and Delamere have also rejoined the National Party since leaving Parliament.