The People's Politician BBC2, 9pm

IT'S BEEN a shocking year for relations between the people and their politicians. The expenses scandal undermined the voters' trust in their elected representatives like never before. Few of us put a cross in the box so the candidate could fund the renovation of their duckhouse.

The People's Politician sees two retiring MPs, Ann Widdecombe and Richard Caborn, challenged to heal the rift between 'them and us'.

Could giving us more of a say over our MPs – using the internet, for example – help bring back any of the 17 million who didn't vote at the last election? And should we microchip MPs' ears so we know where they are at all times?

Among other possible ideas is the suggestion that the Speaker should keep them all on a lead.

Michael Howard is among six other politicians standing down at the forthcoming election who talk candidly about the size of MPs' egos and other aspects of life in the Westminster bubble. How easy is it for MPs to become detached from reality? And why do so many of them need to sit on the All-Party Committee For Forging Links With The Caribbean?

Elsewhere, presenter Tim Samuels reveals the startling findings of a confidential survey of MPs about the real state they are in. One in four has only three homes and 48 per cent have had to pay for their own food shopping at least once in the past five years.