Boris Johnson is plotting a dramatic overhaul of Whitehall after his landslide election victory, in a drive to demonstrate that the Government “works for the people”.

Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s chief aide, is to spearhead plans for radical reforms to the civil service, including a review of the processes for hiring and firing officials, to ensure Whitehall delivers the Prime Minister’s agenda.

He has previously complained that “almost no one is ever fired” in Whitehall, during a lecture in which he set out a “to-do list” he had maintained in case “I ever manage to get control of No 10.” It suggests Mr Johnson’s programme for the next five years is likely to be much more radical than the agenda he set out after taking over from Theresa May in July.

Separately, Downing Street dismissed suggestions from Brussels and pro-Remain campaigners that the Prime Minister would angle for a closer trading relationship with the EU, having gained an 80-strong majority that ends his reliance on hardline Brexiteer MPs.

Following the Conservative victory, some ministers claimed that Mr Johnson would seek to align Britain’s rules on the manufacturing of goods much closer to those of the EU in order to secure a favourable trade deal. But a senior Downing Street source said: “We are not going to soften Brexit or negotiate some high alignment model.”