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UKIP Lawmaker Hospitalized After ‘Altercation’ at Meeting UKIP Lawmakers Clash at E.U. Parliament. One Ends Up on the Floor.
(about 9 hours later)
LONDON — Steven Woolfe, a member of the European Parliament and a likely candidate to lead the right-wing U.K. Independence Party, was hospitalized on Thursday after what the party said was an “altercation” at a meeting of fellow lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. LONDON — Britain’s populist, right-wing United Kingdom Independence Party might have thought its week could get no worse after its leader, Diane James, quit on Tuesday just 18 days after her election.
In a statement from the hospital in Strasbourg, where doctors performed a CT scan, Mr. Woolfe said that he was feeling “brighter” but that he would be kept overnight in the hospital as a precautionary measure. But on Thursday, her possible successor, Steven Woolfe, 49, found himself hospitalized after an altercation with a colleague.
“There is no blood clot in the brain,” he said. “I am sitting up, and said to be looking well. The only consequence at the moment is a bit of numbness on the left-hand side of my face.” After the dispute at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, Mr. Woolfe had at first seemed unhurt, but was later shown on television sprawled on the floor outside the debating chamber. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was initially said to be in serious condition.
The interim and former party leader, Nigel Farage, said in a statement earlier in the day that “following an altercation” at a gathering of party lawmakers, Mr. Woolfe “subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital.” From his hospital bed, Mr. Woolfe issued a statement saying that a scan had shown “no blood clot on the brain,” and that he was “feeling brighter, happier, and smiling as ever.”
At the time, Mr. Farage said Mr. Woolfe, 49, who represents the northwest of England, was in “serious” condition. An image from ITV News showed a man identified as Mr. Woolfe, dressed in a blue suit, lying on the floor and apparently unconscious. In a statement, his party said Mr. Woolfe had suffered “two epileptic-like fits and numbness on the left-hand side of his body,” and had lost consciousness.
This week, Diane James unexpectedly quit as leader of UKIP after just 18 days. Mr. Woolfe is expected to be a contender to replace her. Arguments among lawmakers rarely escalate into any sort of physical confrontation in the European Parliament, an institution dedicated to fostering compromise and healing enmities.
He had sought the leadership position the last time it was open but was declared ineligible to run because his nomination papers had been submitted too late. But that philosophy never appealed to the U.K. Independence Party, known as UKIP, which campaigned for Britain’s exit from the European Union and is famous for its aggressive political discourse.
Mr. Woolfe was not believed at first to have suffered any ill effects from the altercation, but he later collapsed in the Parliament building. While serving as the party leader, Nigel Farage, now its interim boss, once used a parliamentary debate to tell Herman Van Rompuy, then the president of the European Council, that he had “all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk.”
“Mr. Woolfe did indeed become unwell,” said Marjory van den Broeke, a spokeswoman for the European Parliament. “The Parliament medical service took care of him so that he could be transported to the hospital.” The dispute involving Mr. Woolfe arose at a meeting of UKIP lawmakers on Thursday morning.
The episode occurred as the European Parliament, which meets monthly in Strasbourg, was ending its sessions for the week. Mr. Woolfe, who represents northwest England in the European Parliament, had sought the leadership position the last time it was open, but was declared ineligible because his nomination papers were submitted too late.
Since Ms. James’s resignation, Mr. Woolfe has said he wants to run again, but he angered some colleagues by admitting that he had considered defecting to the rival Conservative Party.
That appears to have prompted the altercation between Mr. Woolfe and a colleague, identified in British media reports as a fellow European Parliament lawmaker, Mike Hookem, a former member of the British military who describes himself in his biography as a “still a working-class lad” who “calls a spade a spade.”
Things appear to have escalated when the two men left the room to resolve their differences. According to one account, Mr. Woolfe hit his head on a structure. Other accounts said Mr. Hookem had thrown a punch, but he denied those reports.
Neil Hamilton, the leader of the Welsh UKIP, told the BBC that there was an argument among European lawmakers, and that he had heard that Mr. Woolfe “picked a fight with one of them and came off worst.”
Mr. Farage added that it was “not very seemly behavior.”
“Mr. Woolf did indeed become unwell,” said Marjory van den Broeke, a spokeswoman for the European Parliament. “The Parliament medical service took care of him so that he could be transported to the hospital.”
In the statement from his hospital bed, Mr. Woolfe thanked medical and parliamentary staff members, adding that he was “sitting up, and said to be looking well.”
Mr. Hookem could not be reached for comment.