The Liberal Democrats had a minority on the council with 19 councilors only and 19 seats being considered most of the time which increased the number of councilors from 19 to 39 during the 2002 Harrogate Borough Council election.
The Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to no overall control. Before the election the Liberal Democrats had a majority on the council with 39 councillors, compared to 19 Conservatives and 1 Labour councillor. Boundary changes meant that every seat was being contested for the first time since 1974. The changes reduced the number of councillors by five from 59 to 54, while increasing the number of wards from 32 to 35. 
