Tight Five

The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori elected to the Parliament of New Zealand in 1996 from the centrist/nationalist New Zealand First party.

New Zealand First had been founded in 1993 by Winston Peters, a former National Party Minister of Māori Affairs. 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, Tau Henare, great-grandson of legendary Māori politician Taurekareka Henare, unseated the Labour MP in the Northern Māori seat, one of five seats reserved for Māori, 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.