LONDON — Before she lost her parliamentary majority in elections this month, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain harbored bold ambitions to reshape her country’s politics, promising to reach out to working-class voters who were left behind by globalization and struggling to get by.

But on Wednesday, Mrs. May jettisoned much of her policy agenda, putting forward a slimmed down legislative program intended to minimize the risk of defeats in Parliament while focusing on Britain’s departure from the European Union, a process known as Brexit.

Her authority shattered by the election debacle, Mrs. May is fighting for survival. Despite days of negotiations to secure support for her minority government from 10 lawmakers from the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, there was still no agreement on Wednesday.

Having already postponed by two days the Queen’s Speech to Parliament, in which the monarch outlines the government’s coming legislation, Mrs. May proceeded without an accord with the D.U.P., and in the knowledge that any contentious bill risks defeat.