The 2021 Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership election took place on February 6 to elect a leader to replace Premier Stephen McNeil, who on August 6, 2020, announced his pending resignation after leading the party since 2007 and returning the party to government in 2013 after being out of power for fourteen years.

Iain Thomas Rankin is a Canadian politician who served as the 29th premier of Nova Scotia from February 23, 2021, to August 31, 2021. He serves in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, representing the electoral district of Timberlea-Prospect. Rankin was first elected in the 2013 Nova Scotia general election and was re-elected in the 2017 general election. On February 6, 2021, Rankin was announced the Leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.