The Turner Controversy involved a series of disputes between "Turnerites" and the rest of the party that caused John Rowan to resign.
A series of acrimonious disputes between the 'Turnerites' and the majority of the party culminated in a party referendum and then a resolution being carried at the 1955 party conference to the effect that all members not in agreement with the Declaration of Principles be asked to resign. Turner, having survived a previous attempt to expel him, promptly did so, along with a number of other members including Joan Lestor (later to become a Labour minister) and the psychologist John Rowan. 
