The whole council was up for election and following boundary changes the number of seats was reduced to 42.[2] The council remained in a situation of No Overall Control following Plaid Cymru gains at the expense of the Independents. The Independents formed a coalition administration following the previous county council election in May 1999, being largest group on the council along with the Liberal Democrats.
After the election, the composition of the council was:
Sixteen members of the original Council elected in 1995 were again returned.
Three of the elected Independent councilors, namely Gethin James (Aberporth), Ray Quant (Borth) and Haydn Lewis (Penparc) were non-party Independents, in that they did not sit as members of the Independent group of councilors.
1Cymraeg/Welsh was the label used by independent councillor John Ivor Williams. In 1999, and again in 2008, he ran with the label Independent. 2Llais Aberaeron UDP Reject was the label used by Mary Elizabeth Davies.