Sky News reported that a colleague had punched Woolfe, and he banged his head against a metal railing. He reportedly collapsed some time later.

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Woolfe issued a statement on Thursday afternoon from his hospital bed saying he was “feeling brighter” and that scans showed that he did not have a blood clot on the brain.

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"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,” he said. He will be staying in the hospital overnight for further tests.

Earlier in the day, Nigel Farage, the leader of the party, said: “I deeply regret that following an altercation that took place at a meeting of UKIP [European Parliament members] this morning that Steven Woolfe subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital. His condition is serious.”

Britain's ITV channel showed an image of Woolfe sprawled face-down on the wooden floor of a walkway of the European Parliament in Strasbourg with his hand still near his briefcase. UKIP said that he had suffered two "epileptic-like fits" and had passed out.

The incident comes at a fraught time for the right-wing party, which saw its new leader Diana James step down this week after only 18 days on the job.

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Some commentators have also questioned the purpose of the party, which has long been dogged by infighting and whose main goal was to remove Britain from the European Union.

Britons voted to exit the bloc on June 23rd. Shortly after, the party’s charismatic leader Nigel Farage resigned saying “my political ambition has been achieved.”

Woolfe, who turned 49 on Thursday, is the front-runner in the latest race to become the next leader of UKIP. The former lawyer is of mixed race and from the north of England, and has been touted as someone who could broaden the party’s appeal beyond its core areas in the south.

Woolfe was the first to throw his hat in leadership ring after James stepped down earlier this week saying that she didn’t command “sufficient authority” within the party.

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Farage, who has repeatedly resigned as the leader of UKIP, has resumed his role at the top of the party until the latest leadership contest concludes.

“I keep getting over the wall and running for the hills, and before I’m finally free they drag me back,” Farage told the BBC.