Harrogate and Knaresborough Constituency Profile

Under the boundary review prior to the 1997 election the old Harrogate seat lost rural areas in the west of the constituency to the new Vale of York seat leaving the new seat of Harrogate & Knaresborough an essentially urban constituency.

The constituency of Harrogate & Knaresborough includes the Victorian town of Harrogate and the historic market town of Knaresborough. Harrogate's prosperity is based on its spa heritage but more recently has become a very successful conference and exhibition venue. Both towns are popular tourist centres. As a result the local economy is dominated by the service sector with some light industry and new technology companies.

The political fight in Harrogate & Knaresborough is clearly between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. Within the constituency boundaries there are 20 Liberal Democrat District Councillors, 12 Tories and no Labour councillors. In the 2005 County elections the constituency returned 10 Liberal Democrats and 1 Conservative.

Knaresborough is the only part of the Constituency to be parished and has its own town council. In May 2007 the Liberal Democrats had a clean sweep winning all 15 seats.