Meanwhile Bissolati was active as a legislator. In 1897 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, representing the college of Cremona. His refusal to oppose the war on Turkey for the conquest of Libya triggered his resignation as socialist Member of Parliament in February 1912; five months later he was expelled from the PSI. He promptly went on to found the Italian Reformist Socialist Party ("Partito Socialista Riformista Italiano"), with Ivanoe Bonomi (a future prime minister) and Angiolo Cabrini.