MP asks FCA to investigate Yorkshire CCC's plans for demutualisation

For demutualisation to prevail, 75 per cent of the membership must vote for it from a minimum 50 per cent turnout. There are 5,000-plus voting members.

However, Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel was written to the financial regulator, the FCA, and urged it to probe these proposals.

The Labour MP said he is concerned about Yorkshire’s 2025 membership offer, in which members must opt in to receive voting rights.

In the letter to the FCA, seen by The Yorkshire Post, Mr Sobel said: “This amendment appears to be a deliberate mechanism to reduce the number of eligible voting members, thereby distorting any potential ballot on a future demutualisation proposal.”

The MP, whose constituency includes Yorkshire’s Headingley base, added: “These developments risk undermining the integrity and reputation of YCCC, an iconic sporting institution.”

He asked the regulator, which has a large office in Leeds, to “initiate an immediate investigation”.

In October, Mr Graves told The Yorkshire Post: “We’d love everybody to vote. We’re looking to do roadshows around Yorkshire, to talk to the members about demutualisation and all the benefits.

“I think the club made a mistake by passing voting membership to every category we’ve got. I don’t think that’s right. I know other counties have had the same discussions.

"From my point of view, it’s trying to get to the people who really care - we need to listen to them.”

It is understood that the immediate need for demutualisation has cooled since Mr Graves first proposed it last year.

At that point, Yorkshire was expected to record another £2m loss and was braced for further deficits in 2027 and 2028, when Headingley does not have a Test match.

However, since then, the county has sold the entire stake in its Hundred franchise Northern Superchargers to the Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad, with Yorkshire set to bank £60m.

Contrary to some reports, demutualisation is still on the table despite this sale.

"Our plan, basically, is to pay off all the debt and to make sure that we're sustainable going forward, and that we spend wisely going forward," Mr Graves said.

"But we'd still need to look at changing it into a limited company from a members' club because, by doing that, you protect it all the more.

"It would stop money being wasted because, by outside investment coming in as a limited company, it would make sure that the money would be spent properly and not wasted.

“As a members' club, as we've seen over the last few years, that could be wasted overnight."

Yorkshire declined to comment on Mr Sobel’s letter to the FCA.