Lorraine Davidson, Fiona Hamilton

Alex Salmond has offered to forge a close working partnership with Boris Johnson, the new Mayor of London.

The First Minister wrote to the Tory MP yesterday to congratulate him on his victory and told him: “If there are things that we can co-operate on, let's co-operate.”

Mr Salmond and Mr Johnson are expected to work closely together as Scotland prepares for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and London for the 2012 Olympics.

Mr Salmond enjoyed a strong relationship with the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone. The two politcians were friends and agreed on issues such as the financing of public buildings and both opposed the Iraq war. They also worked closely together after the terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.

The First Minister refused yesterday to be drawn into a row about Mr Johnson's previous criticisms about the level of public spending in Scotland, claiming that Mr Livingstone had made similar claims but had stopped after studying figures which showed that public spending per head in London was higher. Mr Salmond said: “If Ken Livingstone can see the light in these matters, even Boris Johnson will come to realise the same thing.”

Mr Johnson is expected to dismiss several senior executives this week. Twelve key advisers, who make representations to the mayor on policy areas such as race, policing, housing and economic development, are believed to be first in the firing line.

He will address staff tomorrow morning and the Tory team has not ruled out further redundancies. Several of the advisers had worked with Mr Livingstone for several years and were closely aligned to him.

A source told The Times: “It is inevitable that Boris is going to bring in people that he knows and trusts, and who share his vision for London.”

Another layer of executives, who oversee areas such as policy and performance, are likely to remain as they are not politically appointed.

There was speculation yesterday that Steve Norris, the Tory defeated by Mr Livingstone in 2000 and 2004, would take on an advisory role.

In Mr Johnson's first speech as mayor on Saturday, he signalled that he would not tolerate unsupportive officials. “If there are any dogs in the manger, then I will have those dogs humanely euthanased,” he said.

The mayor held a series of meetings with officials over the weekend, including Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and emphasised that the implementation of his manifesto should be a priority.

Mr Johnson has promised swift action to curb crime and antisocial behaviour. Work has begun on providing more police community support officers on public transport and Londoners may be banned from consuming alcohol on the Tube within weeks.