Far-right candidate assaulted while campaigning ahead of French election

Marine Le Pen said the attack was carried out by 'left extremists". Photo: Getty.

Sudip Kar-Gupta

Black-clad attackers have beaten up a far-right candidate on the campaign trail ahead of France's snap parliamentary election, police said, echoing violence against politicians in Germany and elsewhere in Europe as the political atmosphere coarsens.

Herve Breuil, a candidate for Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party, was assaulted as he campaigned in the industrial town of Saint Etienne, near Lyon, in central France.