It doesn't make sense though, he's the most popular party leader and more popular than his own party.
I don't think he is as popular as you think. And you can't really say he is popular when comparing him to Millibland and Clegg. That's like saying heart attacks aren't too bad when compared to decapitation and ebola.
You'll tell if he is really desperate because he'll trump up some jingoistic threat for the already stretched UK forces like some Crimea thing or Falklands threat etc.