Michael Gove’s round of interviews on Monday morning was disrupted - when he got stuck in a lift at the BBC.
The Communities Secretary was touring studios to explain his plan to tackle the cladding scandal when the mishap occurred.
Nick Robinson, the BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter, broke the news to listeners this morning.
“We’ve had breaking news this morning that W1A is not in fact a satirical programme, because we were hoping to talk to Michael Gove – you might have been hoping to hear from Michael Gove at this time.
“He had very kindly come into the building so we didn’t have to deal with one of those awkward line failures.”
Robinson added: “Mr Gove is stuck in the Broadcasting House lift. I wish I could say this is a joke, it is not a joke and it is not very funny for Mr Gove and the security man, who have been stuck there for some time.”
Once free, Gove told Robinson on air: “After more than half an hour in the lift you successfully levelled me up.”
In a separate interview with LBC, Gove revealed he had texted BBC chairman Richard Sharp in order to be freed from the lift.
“I’m talking to you from BBC New Broadcasting House but in a scene, perhaps, I think more appropriate for The Thick Of It or W1A, I was trapped in a BBC lift for half an hour between 7.45 and 8.15,” he said.
“But, thanks to the good offices of the Today programme, and also thanks to my texting the BBC chairman, I was liberated.”
Gove said Sharp “made sure that a crack engineering team were dispatched”
He said it was “very good advice from both a health and a safety point of view” to take the stairs out of the building.