An MP from the nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is in hospital with serious injuries after he was attacked in the streets and severely beaten.

Frank Magnitz was set upon by three men and beaten with a piece of timber in the northern German city of Bremen on Monday night. Police have so far been unable to identify his assailants, but believe the attack may have been “politically motivated”.

It is the second apparent attack on the AfD in less than a week. The party’s regional office in the small east German town of Döbeln was damaged in a suspected bomb explosion last week. No one was injured in that incident.

The 66-year-old Mr Magnitz was attacked as he left a reception hosted by a local newspaper in his constituency in Bremen. He lost consciousness during the attack and has told police he has little recollection of the incident.

“I’m well known in Bremen. I’ll definitely take more care in future,” he told reporters from his hospital bed.