Former Amsterdam alderman Rob Oudkerk and Labour party supporter is one of the 85 people who have now applied for the job of Amsterdam mayor.

Oudkerk, a family doctor whose political career floundered after it emerged he used the services of prostitutes despite being married, has gone public with his application in the Parool newspaper.

In the letter, Oudkerk writes about how ashamed he was about giving up his job in Amsterdam in 2004 when the revelations became public. ‘Despite the shame, that inner voice telling me did not go quiet,’ he wrote. ‘You could say I have a calling to serve the city of my birth.’

Applications for the Amsterdam job were reopened after king’s commissioner Johan Remkes said not enough quality candidates had come forward.

VVD supporter Onno Hoes, the former mayor of Maastricht who resigned after claims about his private life, is also reported to have applied. Former GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema and Amsterdam alderman Carolien Gehrels are also thought to be after the job.