 Since the founding of New Zealand First, a populist party under the leadership of former National Party cabinet minister Winston Peters, in the early 1990s, Labour have faced a serious challenge for the Māori vote, both from New Zealand First and from Māori-specific parties.New Zealand First championed Māori issues, gaining a large proportion of the Māori vote and gained several seats, among them five Māori MPs known as "The Tight Five".A split in the party in 1998 led to the founding of the multicultural Mauri Pacific Party, headed by Tau Henare.