At a meeting of UKIP MEPs in the Strasbourg parliament building, a fiery meeting got out of hand when Woolfe — who is a favorite to take over as party leader — suggested he had considered defecting to the Conservative Party. An exchange took place between him and Mike Hookem, which left Woolfe unconscious and needing CPR.
Woolfe's condition was originally described as "life threatening" with possible "bleeding on the brain," but a series of scans proved that he had made a recovery from his injuries. Hookem denies punching Woolfe and — so far — no complaint has been made to the French police, but an internal inquiry is taking place within the party.
An update on the condition of @Steven_Woolfe: pic.twitter.com/SVepEv4eFr
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 6, 2016
The incident epitomizes the divisions within the party, which campaigned to leave the EU at the referendum, June 23, 2016, and which resulted in Britain voting 52 percent to 48 percent to leave. Having effectively campaigned on the single issue of Brexit, many felt the party's raison d'etre was finished.
UKIP was previously led by Nigel Farage, who is aт MEP and sits in the European Parliament. The party had long been accused of being a one-issue party and — despite winning 12.6 percent of the share — only managed to return one seat in Westminster. Farage lost his bid to become and MP and resigned as party leader on May, 8, 2016.
Statement from @Nigel_Farage pic.twitter.com/XvGLbYvyom
— UKIP (@UKIP) October 6, 2016
Three days later, Farage was back in charge of the party after being persuaded to revoke his resignation. He resigned again on July 4, 2016, triggering the leadership election. That was won on September 16 by Diana James who promptly realized the sheer scale of the problems she faced in the party and promptly resigned 18 days later.
"It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign," she said.
I must thank the parliamentary staff, the UKIP MEPs with me and hospital staff for their care and love.
— Steven Woolfe MEP (@Steven_Woolfe) October 6, 2016
FULL STATEMENT: Thank you for all the kind comments and wishes, it truly means alot. https://t.co/HkSWJF0FnT pic.twitter.com/mVGcBkAz7D
— Steven Woolfe MEP (@Steven_Woolfe) October 6, 2016
Rudderless
The multiple resignations were a sign that the party was rudderless. It's only MP in Westminster, Douglas Carswell, never wanted to be party leader and had clashed with Farage in the past over many policy issues. Their relationship was often acrimonious.
I have asked @Europarl_EN Advisory Committee to urgently investigate incident involving MEP @Steven_Woolfe https://t.co/2dJV9KAh6o
— EP President (@EP_President) October 7, 2016
Meanwhile, the former Conservative minister, Neil Hamilton, who now leads UKIP in Wales, has also said he would not stand — not least because his relationship with Farage is toxic. Farage described such a possibility as a "horror story."
Stephen Woolfe — an MEP and barrister — declared that he would be standing for the leadership in July 2016, but his application was filed 7 minutes after the deadline and he was disqualified from standing. After James resigned, Woolfe declared that he would stand again, but things were brought to a head when rumors spread that he was thinking of defecting to the Conservatives.
There was an acrimonious meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday, October 6, which ended up with Woolfe on the floor being resuscitated by paramedics and Hookem allegedly on the run. Woolfe has been detained in hospital for tests, but is making a recovery.
According to fellow UKIP MEP Nathan Gill, who visited Woolfe in the French hospital where he is receiving treatment under an EU-brokered joint health agreement:
"He is sick of croissants and looking forward to a full English breakfast."
Hookem denies punching him in the face, but now faces an internal inquiry as well as the one in the European Parliament.
Mike Hookem on 'regrettable' incident that left UKIP colleague Steven Woolfe in hospital https://t.co/MoZkWEW393 pic.twitter.com/2hqCdTmzuT
— ITV News Calendar (@itvcalendar) October 7, 2016
Meanwhile, UKIP appears to be out of control, with different factions pulling the party in all directions. As the latest leadership election gets underway, there is every chance of more blood being spilled.
