Boris Johnson's surprise resignation from the British parliament Friday sparked speculation over major defeats for the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party in special elections to fill vacancies this year and the anticipated general election in 2025.

Several observers see in the latest developments for conservatives a British version of the so-called Watergate year that befell Republicans in the U.S. in 1974 — a string of defeats in special elections for the U.S. House in traditionally Republican districts followed by a Democratic avalanche in November which gave Democrats two-thirds of the U.S. House.

According to a YouGov poll of likely British voters conducted in May, the opposition Labour Party leads the ruling Conservatives by 44% to 25%. Trailing the two major parties are the Liberal Democrats at 11%, the new populist Reform U.K. Party at 8%, and the Greens at 6%.

The next British general election can be held no later than January 2025.

Johnson resigned late Friday evening upon seeing advance copies of a special panel on his disobedience of COVID-19 laws while prime minister in 2021.

The panel, headed by Conservative MP (Member of Parliament) Sir Bernard Jenkins, reportedly ordered a ten-day suspension from parliament for Johnson. Under British election laws that would permit constituents to gather a petition and force a special election, referred to as a by-election in the U.K., in Johnson's Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge Universities) that neither the former prime minister nor any other conservative is sure of winning.

Johnson's exit comes on the heels of two other conservative MPs leaving the House of Commons — Nadine Dorries and Nigel Evans, who announced he was resigning hours after Johnson. The seats of all three are considered marginal and could easily flip to the opposition Labour Party.

In addition, it is increasingly speculated that MP and Defense Minister Ben Wallace will soon be tapped as the new secretary general of NATO. This would mean a fourth special election and another that the Labour Party could pick up.

"While a succession of by-elections will be a very unwelcome distraction for [Conservative Prime Minister] Richi Sunak, it is highly unlikely they will change anything," Ben Harris-Quinney, president of the right-of-center Bow Group, told Newsmax. "The conservatives are already 15-20 points behind Labour in the polls, and it is unlikely they will opt for their 5th leadership change in seven years and just before the next election."

As to rumors that Johnson is trying to trigger events that would lead to his return to parliament from another constituency and perhaps resume the party leadership after a Conservative defeat in the next election, Harris-Quinney said: "The more Boris agitates from the sidelines now, the more he will be blamed for Conservative defeats. He can afford to sit back quietly and let nature take its course with Sunak."

He added that "the great farce of it all is that despite appearances, in policy terms Boris barely differed from Sunak at all."

"Boris is nothing more than another establishment liberal with a touch of eccentricity, who merely makes the odd controversial comment. He oversaw the biggest rise in immigration figures in history, the highest taxes and spending in 70 years, he backed lockdowns and vaccine passports and like [Labour leader Sir Keir] Starmer failed to give a straight answer on what a woman is. Many blame his departure from the patriotic conservative message he ran on in 2019 on his then-girlfriend and now wife Carrie Symonds, but no excuse can cover such a record of failure."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.