France's Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet knocked out while campaigning Published duration 15 June 2017 Related Topics France elections 2017

image copyright AFP image caption Passers-by helped Ms Kosciusko-Morizet when she fell and lost consciousness

A French politician was knocked unconscious when a man pushed leaflets in her face and she fell and hit the ground, her campaign team has said.

Pictures showed Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet lying on the pavement in the Left Bank street market in Paris.

She was taken to hospital and prosecutors have opened an investigation.

The man called her a "crappy bobo", an AFP reporter said. Bobo is a derogatory term for an urban hipster.

Ms Kosciusko-Morizet, widely known by her initials NKM, is a high-profile figure on the centre-right of French politics.

The MP had been handing out Republican party election leaflets ahead of Sunday's National Assembly election.

image copyright AFP image caption Ms Kosciusko-Morizet lost her balance after a man pushed leaflets in her face, witnesses said

Witnesses heard the man tell the MP: "It's your fault [Anne] Hidalgo is mayor today", a reference to her defeat in the 2014 Paris mayoral election.

An AFP photographer at the scene said the man seized the leaflets and tried to throw them back in the politician's face. Ms Kosciusko-Morizet then lost her balance and hit her head on the ground. She was unconscious for several minutes.

The man left the scene immediately, while being chased by a party official.

A former environment minister, NKM is at risk of losing her Assembly seat to a candidate from the centrist party of President Emmanuel Macron.

Her rival, Gilles le Gendre, suspended campaigning and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited her in hospital.

At one point NKM was seen as a potential candidate for the centrist government but decided to run for the National Assembly for the Republicans. She was the only woman in the race for this year's Republican presidential nomination.