Michael Gove was delayed during his round of interviews this morning after becoming 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.

Gove was trapped for more than half an hour as he visited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme with Nick Robinson.

Robinson told listeners: “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.

“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.”

Gove was eventually freed and appeared with Nick Robinson.

The Levelling Up Secretary said he had been “successfully levelled up”, adding: “These sorts of things happen, and if you and I together have given ammunition for Armando Iannucci or for the next episode of W1A, then fine.”

Told by presenter Nick Robinson that the hashtag #FreeMichaelGove had been started on Twitter, the Cabinet minister said he suspected there are “rather more people” who feel he should be “incarcerated for longer”.