 It was a turbulent time for the Labour Party, and in 1923 the party was nearing a split.In September 1923 Thornæs was excluded from the party for half a year for writing about Martin Tranmæl that he had either "lost his mind", or was a "provocateur" and "class traitor".The party then split over disagreements of its alignment to Comintern, and the wing that supported Comintern and the Twenty-one Conditions, broke away to form the Communist Party of Norway.