Figure heads behind the West Midlands Combined Authority are to make a request to the Government to turn the Black Country into a Sovereign State, similar to the Vatican City.

The move would see the region given formal boundaries and would allow both a head of state and, if desired, an elective monarchy to be appointed - although it's not clear yet how top level governance would function. Initial suggestions are that the elected West Midlands mayor would be given first refusal over the lead role, with a possibility of Dudley Castle undergoing prolonged renovation to become an equivalent of a royal palace.

Plans are being formalised ahead of a meeting with the planning committee in the next 3 months. If a deal is finalised then the next step would be to put the outline before Parliament who would vote on the matter. If successful, Prime Minister, Theresa May, would then make a recommendation to Her Majesty The Queen who would give the move royal ascent. 

Bob Rutherford is Chair of the Applied Practises Registration In Law for Ordanance Outside London; the consultancy working with the Combined Authority to finalise the proposal. He said:

"This is a first for us. Although we're in the business of helping to create multi-level organisational structures, we've never helped create a sovereign state before. However there's a first time for everything!

"We're fairly sure this will be good for the people of the area and, although we didn't have a chance to do any specific research, we did note that the move was also considered in an area just outside Bristol. 

"Unfortunately, they couldn't continue with the plans because one of the subsections stipulated that your land mass must be more than 60% inhabited by humans, and they had a lot of fields full of goats and sheep. We don't have that issue and we're confident of success".

Suggestion has been made that the move could see visitors to the newly created 'State of the Black Country' charged up to £5.32 per hour in entry fees. The new monarch would also be in a position to insist their head is installed on all stamps and the national anthem could be changed to a Black Country specific tune.