GETTY French parliamentary candidate knocked unconscious by protester while campaigning in Paris

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The right-wing candidate was handing out leaflets at a Paris market when she was attacked. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a member of the conservative Les Républicains party, was knocked unconscious on Thursday morning. Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet, 44, was the only female candidate to take part in last year’s right-wing presidential primary election and is now running for a parliamentary seat.

GETTY A passerby takes leaflets from the hand of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet

According to Geoffroy Van der Hasselt, a photojournalist for Agence-France-Presse who witnessed the altercation, the man, who is said to be in his fifties, grabbed campaign leaflets out of Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet’s hands and threw them in her face before calling her a “s****y bobo” and running into the nearest Metro station.

Wishing my friend Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet a speedy recovery. I condemn this act of unbearable violence Edouard Philippe - French Prime Minister

The word “bobo” is short for bourgeois-bohème, a term used to describe wealthy, liberal and artsy Parisians. Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet tried to shield her face with her hand, but lost her balance as she took a step back and fell to the floor, losing consciousness “for several minutes”. She was brought around by paramedics and taken to a nearby hospital, where she was kept overnight for observation after it was found that she has suffered a “mild head injury” in the fall, a medical source said.

GETTY Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet lost her balance as she fell to the floor, losing consciousness

GETTY Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet was handing out leaflets at a Paris market when she was attacked

Mr Van der Hasselt said: “Passers-by and protesters often hurl insults at candidates who are out campaigning, but I have never witnessed such a physical, violent attack." Jean-Baptiste Goulard, a member of Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet’s election team, ran after the attacker and followed him into the Metro. Mr Goulard told the French daily Ouest-France: “He hit me and tried to stop me from getting on the train. He eventually managed to push me away and jumped out at the next stop." Gilles Le Gendre, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist La République en Marche (Republic on the Move) party and Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet’s opponent in the parliamentary election, announced he was suspending his campaign because of what had happened to his rival. He tweeted: “I firmly condemn the attack against NKM and have suspended my campaign."

GETTY Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet and Gilles Le Gendre

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