UK influence in Brussels wanes as Cameron faces defeat

That lack of clout undermines Cameron’s search for allies to help him repatriate powers from Brussels, a pledge he says will convince voters to opt to stay in the EU, according to Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform. British influence threatens to weaken still further as high-profile Britons in Brussels pack their bags without anyone of caliber to replace them, Grant said in an interview.

“If we send medium-to-lightweight politicians to Brussels, then obviously they’re not going to get good, influential jobs,” said Grant, a biographer of Jacques Delors, commission president from 1985 to 1995. “If you don’t have a good communicator who commands respect, then it will be harder to win a referendum campaign for staying in.”