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{{Short description|Group of five Māori members of the New Zealand Parliament}}
{{Other uses|Tight five (disambiguation)}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2008}}
{|align=right
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! Tau Henare
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{{NZ parlbox header}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=44th|start=1993|end=96|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Northern Maori]]}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start=1996|end=98|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Te Tai Tokerau]]|list=2}}
{{NZ parlbox allegiance|start=1998|end=99|party=Mauri Pacific}}
{{NZ parlbox break}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=48th|start=2005|end=08|party=New Zealand National Party|electorate=List|list=29}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=49th|start=2008|end=11|party=New Zealand National Party|electorate=List|list=26}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=50th|start=2011|end=14|party=New Zealand National Party|electorate=List|list=40}}
{{End}}
|-
! Tuariki Delamere
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{{NZ parlbox header}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start=1996|end=1998|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Te Tai Rawhiti]]|list=18}}
{{NZ parlbox allegiance minor|color=#FEDCBA|start=1998|end=1999|party=Te Tawharau}}
{{End}}
|-
! Tuku Morgan
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{{NZ parlbox header}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start=1996|end=98|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Te Tai Hauāuru]]|list=10}}
{{NZ parlbox allegiance|start=1998|end=99|party=Mauri Pacific}}
{{End}}
|-
! Rana Waitai
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{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start=1996|end=98|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Te Puku O Te Whenua]]|list=27}}
{{NZ parlbox allegiance|start=1998|end=99|party=Mauri Pacific}}
{{End}}
|-
! Tu Wyllie
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{{NZ parlbox header}}
{{NZ parlbox|term=45th|start=1996|end=1999|party=New Zealand First|electorate=[[Te Tai Tonga]]|list=36}}
{{End}}
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'''The Tight Five''' was a nickname given to the five [[Māori people|Māori]] [[Member of Parliament (New Zealand)|MPs]] elected to the [[New Zealand Parliament]] in [[1996 New Zealand general election|1996]] from the [[Centrism|centrist]]/[[populism|populist]] [[New Zealand First]] party.

== Formation ==
New Zealand First had been founded in 1993 by [[Winston Peters]], a former [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]] [[Minister of Māori Affairs]]. In [[1993 New Zealand general election|that year's election]], [[Tau Henare]], great-grandson of legendary Māori politician [[Taurekareka Henare]], won the [[Northern Maori]] seat, one of four [[Māori electorates]], and became New Zealand First's second MP, along with Peters. This victory broke a long Labour hold on the Māori electorates. Soon after the 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, including 6 electorate seats and swept all five Māori electorates.  Henare was reelected in [[Te Tai Tokerau]] (the former Northern Maori).  He was joined by [[Rana Waitai]] in [[Te Puku O Te Whenua]], [[Tuku Morgan]] in [[Te Tai Hauāuru]], [[Tuariki Delamere]] in [[Te Tai Rawhiti]], and [[Tu Wyllie]] in [[Te Tai Tonga]]. When New Zealand First entered in a [[Fourth National Government of New Zealand|coalition government]] with the National Party, Peters served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand|deputy Prime Minister]], and Henare and Delamere joined Peters in [[Cabinet of New Zealand|Cabinet]]. Henare served as [[Minister for Māori Development|Minister of Māori Affairs]] and Delamere as [[Minister of Immigration (New Zealand)|Minister of Immigration]] and [[Ministry for Pacific Peoples|Pacific Affairs]].

The five Māori electorate MPs soon became known as the "Tight Five," named after the five [[rugby football|rugby]] forwards who do most of the pushing in a [[Scrum (rugby)|scrum]].  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, faced criticism for reportedly misappropriating funds from a television network where he worked before entering Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=887175 |title='Close eye' on TV grant to Tuku Morgan |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=29 April 2002 |accessdate=30 April 2018 |archive-date=30 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430184556/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=887175 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Disbandment ==
In December 1997, National's [[Jim Bolger]] was ousted as [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]] in a party room coup by [[Jenny Shipley]]. Tensions rapidly developed between the coalition partners and within New Zealand First itself.  In 1998, Henare staged an unsuccessful party room coup of his own against Peters.  Soon afterwards, 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 the National Government as independent MPs.  Among these MPs were all of the Tight Five except Wyllie.

Henare, Waitai and Morgan eventually founded a new party, [[Mauri Pacific]], led by Henare.  Delamere remained an independent prior to the [[1999 New Zealand general election|1999 election]], when he joined [[Te Tawharau]], a small Māori party allied with the [[Mana Māori Movement]].

In the 1999 election, all of the Tight Five were defeated, with only Delamere managing to even finish second. Henare is the only one who returned to parliament, joining the National Party and serving as a list MP from 2005 to 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9918774/Tau-calls-time-on-Parliament |title=Tau calls time on Parliament |first=Fox |last=Michael |publisher=[[Stuff New Zealand]] |date=30 April 2014 |accessdate=30 April 2018 |archive-date=30 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430182850/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9918774/Tau-calls-time-on-Parliament |url-status=live }}</ref> Waitai and Delamere have also rejoined the National Party since leaving Parliament.<ref name="NZ_Herald_148326">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=148326 |title=National's waka nets Waitai |author=Young, Audrey |date=19 August 2000 |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=22 November 2011 |archive-date=21 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321032447/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=148326 |url-status=live }}</ref> Waitai was elected to the [[Whanganui District|Wanganui District Council]] in 2007. Morgan became Māori co-chair for the [[Hauraki-Waikato]] electorate in 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11554089 |title=Maori Party weigh in on Labour's reshuffle |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |last=Trevett |first=Claire |date=1 December 2015 |accessdate=30 April 2018 |archive-date=8 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208123851/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11554089 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2016, he was elected president of the [[Māori Party]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11675865 |title=Tukoroirangi Morgan elected as Maori Party president |first=Audrey |last=Young |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |date=16 July 2016 |accessdate=30 April 2018 |archive-date=8 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208124045/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11675865 |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2017, he resigned after the [[2017 New Zealand general election|2017 general election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99752711/mori-party-president-resigns-and-calls-for-coleaders-to-follow-suit|title=Māori Party president resigns and calls for co-leaders to follow suit|last=Gardiner|first=Heta|date=11 December 2017|accessdate=30 April 2018|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130133527/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99752711/mori-party-president-resigns-and-calls-for-coleaders-to-follow-suit|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Other uses of the term ==
In 2020, five Labour Māori MPs were awarded ministerial positions inside Cabinet, and journalist Joel Maxwell referred to them as "Tight Five Two" and as a "Labour Tight Five".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maxwell|first=Joel|date=2020-11-02|title=It's Tight Five Two: Māori MPs make splash inside new Labour Cabinet|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123267346/its-tight-five-two-mori-mps-make-splash-inside-new-labour-cabinet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102093529/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123267346/its-tight-five-two-mori-mps-make-splash-inside-new-labour-cabinet|archive-date=2 November 2020|access-date=2020-11-03|website=Stuff|language=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{New Zealand First}}

[[Category:Political history of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Māori politics]]
[[Category:New Zealand First]]
[[Category:Political terminology in New Zealand]]