diff --git a/pkg/model/components/awscloudcontrollermanager.go b/pkg/model/components/awscloudcontrollermanager.go
index 3c8f17e3c7..d1e1788845 100644
--- a/pkg/model/components/awscloudcontrollermanager.go
+++ b/pkg/model/components/awscloudcontrollermanager.go
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ func (b *AWSCloudControllerManagerOptionsBuilder) BuildOptions(o interface{}) er
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// No significant downside to always doing a leader election.
+	// Also, having multiple control plane nodes requires leader election.
+	eccm.LeaderElection = &kops.LeaderElectionConfiguration{LeaderElect: fi.Bool(true)}
+
 	eccm.ClusterName = b.ClusterName
 
 	eccm.ClusterCIDR = clusterSpec.NonMasqueradeCIDR
diff --git a/pkg/model/components/gcpcloudcontrollermanager.go b/pkg/model/components/gcpcloudcontrollermanager.go
index 418d9811bf..47e7ef4d1c 100644
--- a/pkg/model/components/gcpcloudcontrollermanager.go
+++ b/pkg/model/components/gcpcloudcontrollermanager.go
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ func (b *GCPCloudControllerManagerOptionsBuilder) BuildOptions(options interface
 	if ccmConfig == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
+
+	// No significant downside to always doing a leader election.
+	// Also, having multiple control plane nodes requires leader election.
+	ccmConfig.LeaderElection = &kops.LeaderElectionConfiguration{LeaderElect: fi.Bool(true)}
+
 	// CCM interacts directly with the GCP API, use the name safe for GCP
 	ccmConfig.ClusterName = gce.SafeClusterName(b.ClusterName)
 	ccmConfig.AllocateNodeCIDRs = fi.Bool(true)
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 36a0c14c54..c68c656da3 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.21.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterAutoscaler:
     awsUseStaticInstanceList: false
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa23/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa23/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 946140a1ce..5027b2384f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa23/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm-irsa23/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.23.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterAutoscaler:
     awsUseStaticInstanceList: false
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 4dbbd09984..3843781cb7 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/many-addons-ccm/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.21.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterAutoscaler:
     awsUseStaticInstanceList: false
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-1.24/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-1.24/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 1f7a2cfcf5..372618e0f9 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-1.24/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-1.24/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ spec:
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     enableLeaderMigration: true
     image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:latest
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterDNSDomain: cluster.local
   configBase: memfs://tests/minimal.example.com
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-calico/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-calico/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 381837b4c5..6e22d59dea 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-calico/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-calico/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal-ipv6.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.21.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterDNSDomain: cluster.local
   configBase: memfs://clusters.example.com/minimal-ipv6.example.com
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-cilium/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-cilium/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 34edf63875..6c716e1825 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-cilium/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-cilium/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal-ipv6.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.21.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterDNSDomain: cluster.local
   configBase: memfs://clusters.example.com/minimal-ipv6.example.com
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-private/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-private/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 0b7f9dc4a3..b2dc388688 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-private/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6-private/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal-ipv6.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.23.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterDNSDomain: cluster.local
   configBase: memfs://clusters.example.com/minimal-ipv6.example.com
diff --git a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
index 27af2f5242..f082da25bd 100644
--- a/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
+++ b/tests/integration/update_cluster/minimal-ipv6/data/aws_s3_bucket_object_cluster-completed.spec_content
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ spec:
     clusterName: minimal-ipv6.example.com
     configureCloudRoutes: false
     image: k8s.gcr.io/provider-aws/cloud-controller-manager:v1.21.0-alpha.0
+    leaderElection:
+      leaderElect: true
   cloudProvider: aws
   clusterDNSDomain: cluster.local
   configBase: memfs://clusters.example.com/minimal-ipv6.example.com