his is a picture of the next prime minister. Her name is Ellie ashton, she comes from Monmouth, and she is 13. I imagine she will be running the country by the time an election rolls around. She comes to Hay every year and tells me she was born a climate change campaigner. "I hope to have read all the austens by the time I am 15." Has she read a Brief History of Time? "I dip into it from time to time, but it is what I call a 'sitting on the loo' book."  Ellie is the only one in her class who doesn't have a PlayStation and a mobile, because of their impact on the environment. She is teased a bit for it, but she doesn't mind. Instead, she plays bass guitar and climbs trees. "and I love children, because I have grown up around them." With her frightening intellect, she could have fooled me.