 A former member of the Conservative Party and the libertarian organisation Libertas, Gjems-Onstad joined Anders Lange's Party when it was founded in 1973 and became the party's deputy leader. He was elected a Member of Parliament in the 1973 parliamentary election, and became the party's parliamentary leader following Anders Lange's death in 1974. Many of his views and proposals caused controversy, and he got in conflict with the new leadership of the party, which was eventually headed by Carl I. Hagen. Gjems-Onstad was expelled from the party in 1976, and finished his term as an independent. He also became known for criticising the Norwegian government's policy in Africa, and for defending the governments of countries such as Rhodesia and South Africa. In the 1980s he worked as a defender for several anti-immigration activists, and from the late 1980s he became involved in anti-immigration politics himself. He stood in election for the Stop Immigration party in 1989 and for the Fatherland Party in 1991, and he was later involved in the organisations Folkebevegelsen mot innvandring and Stop Islamisation of Norway. He was briefly active locally in the Conservative Party and the Pensioners' Party in the late 2000s.
