Grant Shapps hung up live on air when asked about the latest polling which shows he is likely to lose his seat.
A YouGov survey for Sky News has just published its predictions for the general election. Its findings suggest the defence secretary could be voted out of parliament along with many of his Conservative colleagues.
While presenting the polls’ results on Sky News, deputy political editor Sam Coates spotted Shapps was actually calling him.
The camera kept rolling as Coates answered, and said: “Hello Grant Shapps, you’re live on Sky News.”
Shapps can be heard in the background muttering hello and laughing, before Coates asked him: “I’m in the studio with Sophy Ridge.
“Have you seen you’re about to lose your seat, according to the Sky News-YouGov projection?”
There was a moment’s silence before the phone emitted a few beeps – meaning Shapps was no longer there.
“He just put the phone down on me. There we go,” Coates laughed. “He did say hello!”
“We did try. I thought he was calling up for a direct comment,” Ridge said.
Shapps has been the MP for Welwyn Hatfield since 2005.
In the 2019 general election, he secured a majority of over 10,000, taking more than 52% of the vote.
However, the Electoral Calculus has previously predicted that the seat could swing to Labour at the next election.