Bristol's mayor, Greg Clark, has announced that the south-west city is close to sealing deal making it the fourth English city to have an elected mayor along with London, Liverpool and Manchester.

Last month Bristol was the only one of 10 cities to vote in favour of ditching the current council setup in favour of an elected mayor. The deal would not only allow Bristol residents to choose their own mayor, but would also lead to a devolution of power from Whitehall to the local authorities. As a result the current mayor said that an elected mayor would be "one of the most powerful political figures in the country", who would go down in the city's history.

Despite the optimism from Clark, he has confirmed that the move will not lead to greater funding from central government. There would however be "billions of pounds of potential" from new borrowing powers and financial freedoms to drive investment, adding that "Any Bristolian, I am sure, would want to see greater powers for Bristol."

The move will enable local authorities to have greater control over issues in their area. For example, transport is seen as a priority issue in Bristol, with the new city deal the problems can be addressed on a local level, something which Bristol and the Department for Transport welcome.

Mr Clark also said that David Cameron's promise of a "cabinet of mayors" meeting would be honoured, despite the low vote in other cities for the deal. The elected mayors will be invited to Downing Street, with the Prime Minister chairing the first meeting. After that they will decide how to get together.