Taking the 'old tricks' side of the Section theme, in this Paper I examine the effect of public opinion shifts between topics on UK Prime-Ministers' approval rating between 1960-2000. Public opinion attention shifts could be an attempt made by citizens to signal the government that it should to deal with a policy problem which is on the public agenda. Another reason for public opinion shifts is that they are a purposeful manoeuvre contrived by a manipulative Prime-Minister who seeks for public approval by diverting attention from topics the PM is functioning poorly on. Using Gallup data collected in the UK since 1960-200 on a monthly basis, I find that public opinion shifts increase the Prime-Ministers' approval rating. The public opinion shift effect on PMs' approval in comparison to the effect of policy welfare measures or party valence characteristics. However, since Prime Ministers vary in their ability to control the public agenda, that trend varies between Prime-Ministers where some PMs benefit more than others from public opinion shifts.
