Dalton Tagelagi

Dalton Emani Makamau Tagelagi (born 5 June 1968) is a Niuean politician and Premier of Niue since June 2020. He was elected premier by the Niue Legislative Assembly on 11 June 2020, defeating O'Love Jacobsen by 13 votes to 7.

Tagelagi is the son of Sam Pata Emani Tagelagi, who served as Speaker of the Niue Legislative Assembly from 1976 to 1993.

Bowls career
He has competed in bowls for Niue, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. In 2022, he competed in the men's pairs and the men's fours at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Political career


Tagelagi was first elected to the Niue Assembly at the 2008 Niuean general election. Following the 2014 Niuean general election he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure. He was re-elected at the 2017 Niuean general election, and subsequently served as Minister for the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. As Environment Minister he represented Niue at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, calling for rich nations to show greater ambition.

He was re-elected in the 2020 Niuean general election and subsequently elected premier. After being elected he announced that his first priority would be investigating government finances. As Premier his government ratified the PACER Plus regional trade agreement. During the COVID-19 pandemic he negotiated a one-way travel-bubble allowing Niueans to travel to New Zealand, and oversaw a vaccination program which saw Niue gain full herd immunity to the virus. In November 2021 he began a one-year term as Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. His tenure concluded in June 2022, and he was succeeded by Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II.

He was re-elected unopposed to the Assembly at the 2023 election. He was subsequently re-elected as Premier, defeating O'Love Jacobsen 16 votes to 4. He appointed his Cabinet on 12 May 2023, the first gender-balanced Cabinet in Niuean history.