British Prime Minister Theresa May won a confidence vote in parliament by a narrow margin on Thursday, her first major political test since her Conservative Party lost its majority in a shock general election earlier this month.

The House of Commons voted 323 to 309 to approve last week's Queen's Speech, which laid out the government's plans for the next two years. Defeat would have been a major — and possibly fatal — blow to May's new administration.

May's minority government could only secure lawmakers' backing for the legislative plans after making a last-minute concession on abortion funding to stave off defeat.

The Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in a June 8 general election and was forced to strike a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party to win passage of its legislative proposals in the Commons.

In a sign of the government's fragile hold on power, it was forced into a major concession hours before the vote. Facing defeat on an opposition amendment, ministers said they would pay for women from Northern Ireland to travel to England for abortions.