Today’s general election result in the UK hasn’t gone down too well with many of the machinery exhibitors at the Royal Cornwall Show. On the showground the consensus seems to be that a hung parliament, despite Theresa May’s ongoing assurances to the contrary, will lead to uncertainty … and uncertainty is one of the machinery trade’s main obstacles to increasing sales. Jim Squires, UK sales manager at Teagle Machinery, says: “In this part of the world a lot of the farmers, particularly the older generation, were very pleased with the outcome of the Brexit referendum, and, helped by a recent small rise in their incomes, had started to reinvest. So what we really need now is a period of stability … and not what we’ve got today. Alan Snow, of Alan Snow Agric Engineers, which is currently celebrating its 25th year as a Fendt dealership, adds: “Today’s uncertainty has already seen the value of the pound drop back from €1.17 to €1.13, and this will quickly be reflected in what we have to pay for the tractors we supply.” Mr Snow’s view is that he could face a price increase from his tractor suppliers within the next couple of weeks, which clearly isn’t welcome news for either him or his customers. On the Halse South West stand at the Cornwall Show, both Geoffrey Wox, of Wox Agri Services, and Steve Atkin, of Dal-Bo UK, are also in agreement, both stressing the importance of a return to political and economic stability as soon as possible.