The king’s commissioner in Drenthe, Jacques Tichelaar, has resigned after admitting putting forward his sister in law to redevelop a listed building in Assen, despite earlier denying the claim.

Tichelaar, a former Labour MP and current chair of the provincial council, said on Wednesday evening he is standing down after having lost the trust of councillors.

‘Trust is necessary to do a good job and I do not think I have that trust sufficiently,’ he said. ‘That is why I am stepping down with immediate effect.

Tichelaar told local television station RTV Drenthe last week that a civil servant had approached his sister in law, who runs design studio Klinkenberg-SO, about the project.

However, earlier this week, the Volkskrant newspaper obtained a copy of a letter which Tichelaar had written to the provincial authority admitting having favoured his relative.